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M. A. BARBER,'A. WIGGIN & W. SOAR.

MALT GROWING AND DRYING APPARATUS.

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A. WIGGIN & W. SOAR. MALT GROWING AND DRYING APPARATUS.

M. A. BARBER,

No. 393,202. Patented Now. 20, 1888.

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M. A. BARBER, A. WIGGIN & W.-SOAR. MALT GROWING AND DRYING APPARATUS.

Patented Nov. 20, 1888;.

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. '0 lowing'is a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE:

MICHAEL A. BARBER, or NORWICH, CONNECTICUT, AND ANDREW W GCIN AND WILLIAM SCAR, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AS ICNOES o JOHN W. FREE, OF BOSTQN,MASSAGHUSETTS.

MALT GROWING AND. DRYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 393,202, dated November 20, 1888, Application filed Noveniber'll, 1887. Serial No. 254,881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, MICHAEL A. BARBER, of Norwich, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, and ANDREW WIGGIN and WILLIAM SOAR, both of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,

all citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Malt Growing and Drying Apparatus, of which the folfull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature. r

The invention is an improvement upon that described in Patent No. 351,491 to James 0. Brown and John W. Free, dated October 26, 1886; and it relates especially to the mechanism or devices for stirring'and agitating the malt upon the floors of the various chambers 20 used in practicingthe process, or in as many of them as it may be desired to use.

In the drawings, Figure is a view of a portion of a malt-chamber, representing a portion of the floor of the chamber, .the turning- 2 5 buckets, their arrangement in relation to each other and to the center upon which they are adapted to be moved. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section of a casing of a chamber and in elevation of the buckets and their operating devices. Fig. 3 is aview, part in vertical sec tion, taken through one of the buckets, and part in elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a diagram to illustrate the operation of the buckets due to their oblique position, to which reference will hereinafter be made. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the frame or hanger.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a section of the wall of a inalting-chamber which is cylindrical in form. a represents the floor, which is perforated throughout, as represented by the Section a, one perforated section only of the floor being shown in Fig. 1.

B is .a vertical shaft, preferably centrally located in relation to the malting-chamber A. To it is secured a bracket or frame, 0, which supports the shaft 0, upon which the buckets D are mounted, and also the devices for rotating it. The shaft is so arranged that it is oblique or at an acute angle to a radial line extending from the center of the vertical shaft B to the outer end of the said shaft 0, and the latter is supported at its inner end by a box, 0',

carried by an arm of the frame (Land upon which the box preferably is adjustable or movable in order to vary the obliquity of the angle of the-shaft. I The oblique arrangement of the shaft 0 is illustrated by the diagram Fig. 4, in which the dotted line x denotes a radial line drawn on which we prefer to arrange the shaft 0.

The'outer end, 0, of the shaft has a bearing in the hanger, 0 extending downward from the horizontal bar 0, forming a part, of the frame 0, and extending from the inner part of the frame substantially parallel with the shaft 0. This arm 0* has secured'to its under surface at or near its outer end an anti-friction roll, 0 which bears upon the rail or Support 0, which extends about the malting-chamber A, close to or in contact with the wall thereof. The frame 0 also has'the arm 0 and the stayrod a, running fronnthe end of the arm to the end of the bar 0. (See Figs. .1 and 2.) The frame G is turned with the shaft B, to which it is secured, to cause the buckets D to be moved horizontally over the floor of the malting-room upon a circular path. The shaft 0 is rotated to turn the buckets while they are being moved over the floor. The shaft 0 is set and the buckets shaped so as to bring the edge of the lifting-blades upon the same line and so as to lust clear the floor a, and the buckets vary in the extent of theirliftin-g capacity, the inner bucket having the least and the outer bucket the greatest. This is produced by providing the inner bucket with a less number of lifting-blades d than the outer buckets; and we prefer that the intermediate buckets also be graded in the Same way, so that the outermost buckets shall have the greatest lifting capacity, the next in number will have less, the third still less, and the fourth or inner one the least.

The reason for varying the capacity of the 1). The bucket-shaft c is rotated by means of p a sprocket-wheel, b upon the inner-end of the shaft, the sprocket-wheel b upon a short shaft k mounted upon the frame and secured to the do the same amount of work.

bevel-gear b and the sprocket-ehain I)"; The sprocketwheel 6 and its bevelgear I) are driven by the bevel-gear I) upon a short tubular shaft having a bearing upon the shaft B, a.

second bevel-gear, b upon said tubular shaft, and a bevel-gear, b", upon the horizontal shaft b (See Figs. 1 and 3.) I

' There may be used for moving the grain or malt from the ends of the end buckets into the path of the same the guiding-plates E E, the first of which is attached to the hanger 0 and isshaped and bent so that its front edge is infront of the front edge of the buckets, and also bears against the inner edge of the wall or'of the rail 0, and serves to move the grain from the wall inwardly sufficiently to bring it in front of the outer bucket, and the plate E is attached to the frame 0 between the inner bucket and the sprocket-wheel and acts in a similar way in relation to the inner bucket.

. By hanging or supporting the buckets obliquely, as distinguished from a radial line from the center of the shaft B, we have ascertained that the grain or malt is moreuniformly lifted by the buckets and distributed or du mped than if they were arranged radially in relation to the shaft B. The blades of the buckets may have any suitable shape, and we prefer the curved shape illustrated in Fig. 3.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The grain or malt is fed to the chamber A, covering the floor thereof to the depth of a number of inches, and when desired, for the purposeof assisting in the malting process, the mass of grain or malt is stirred, broken up,

and separated by the movement of the buckets through the'mass. The buckets advancing in a line and rotating lift the grain or maltirom the floor of the chamber in comparatively small quantities, and by lifting-blades which deposit it in a broken separated condition and in a new relation to the rest of the malt and to the floor of the machine. This changing of the mass continues so long as it may be desired.' The apparatus may be used in connection with all the various stages of the treatment of the grain. By varying the location and capacity of the buckets and the number of their blades it enables each lifting-blade to We have ascertained, also, that the grain or malt is given centrifugal or centripetal motion 011 the floor, according as the buckets are arranged upon a radial line or upon a line which is oblique to such radial line,and that midway between the extremes-that is, between the radial line and the extreme oblique line-there is a position of the buckets that is a neutral one, and which enables them to take the grain or malt without moving it on the floor, so far as this centrifugal or centripetal-motion of the malt is con- .ccrned, and as a rule we desire that the buck-' chine.

Having thus fully described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a malting apparatus, the combination, with a circular chamber, of a vertical operating-shaft at or near the center of said'chamber, a horizontal malt agitating or stirring shaft extending from near the center of said chamber outward and arranged obliquelyrelative to the radius of said chamber, or to a radial line extending from the center of said vertical shaft to the outer end of said horizontal shaft, a series of turning-buckets carried by said horizontal shaft, and means for imparting rotary and progressive movements to said horizontal shaft, substantially as set forth.-

2. In a malting apparatus,the combination, with the circular chamber, of a vertical operating-shaft at or near the center thereof, a hori zontal shaft extending from near the center c? vertical sh aft to the outer end of said horizontal shaft, a graded series of turning-buckets carried by said horizontal shaft, the outermost bucket having the greatest number of turningblades and the innermost bucket the least number thereof, and means for imparting rotary and progressive movements to said horizontalshaft, substantially as set forth.

3. In a malting apparatus, the combination, with a circular chamber, of a vertical shaft, B, at or near the center thereof, the frame '0, secured to said shaft B and provided with the box 0' and with the horizontal bar 0, .the hanger c at the outer end of said bar, the shaft 0, journaled in said box and arrangedobliquely of a vertical shaft, B,

at or nearthe center thereof, the frame 0, se-

cured to said shaft and provided with the box 0' and the bar c, the hanger 0 near the outer end of said bar, the bucket-carrying shaft 0, journaled in said box and hanger, the-sprocketwheel b, fixed to said shaft, the sprocket-wheel I), supported by said frame, the chain b, connecting' said sprocket-wheels, and means for operating said sprocket-wheel b, substantially as set forth. r 5 5. In a malting apparatus, the combination, with a circular chamber, of a vertical shaft, B, at or near the center thereof, the frame 0, secured to said shaft and having the horizontal bar '0", provided with the hanger 0 the guiding-plate E, attached to said hanger, the guiding-plate E, attached to said frame 0, the horizontal bucketearrying shaft 0, journaled in said frame and hanger, and means for imparting rotary and progressive movements to said shaft, substantially as set forth.

(ii The combination, with thecircular chamber A, having the circular rail or support 0 of the vertical shaft B, the frame 0, secured to said shaft and having the horizontal bar 0*, provided with the hanger c and anti-friction roll 0 the horizontal bucket-carrying shaft journaled in said frame and hanger, the sprocketwheels b and b, the former attached to said shaft 0, the chain connecting said sprocketwheels, the bevel-gears if, b, and b", to operate said sprocket-wheel b, and driving mechanism for the said gear b and for the said shaft B, substantially as set forth.

- MICHAEL A. BARBER.

ANDREW WIGGIN.

' WILLIAM SOAR.

Witnesses:

J OHN W, FREE,

W. H. JENNINGS, Jr. 

